Springtime' for `The Producers': A record number of Tony Awards — 12

NEW YORK (AP) -- "The Producers," led by a merry Mel Brooks,
made Broadway history Sunday night, winning a record 12 Tony
Awards, including best musical. The best play award went to
"Proof," which won three.

"I'm going to have to do the hardest thing I've ever done in my
life -- act humble," said triple-winner Brooks, who picked up
prizes as one of the show's producers as well as for best score
and, along with co-author Thomas Meehan, book of a musical.

He had a hard time being humble as "The Producers" steamrolled
to the Tony record. "I'll see you in a couple of minutes," he said
after winning his second award of the night.

Nathan Lane, the musical's bumbling showman Max Bialystock, won
the best actor-musical prize, giving the production its
record-shattering 11th Tony, surpassing the 10 won by "Hello,
Dolly!" in 1964.

A genuinely touched Lane dragged his co-star, Matthew Broderick,
out on stage and accepted the award on behalf of both of them.
"Without him, I'm nothing," Lane said, with his arm around him.

Susan Stroman won twice, for the musical's direction and
choreography, a prize she has won three times previously. She
thanked Brooks, who she said advised her "don't tap the bell, ring
the bell" when creating the dances.

The musical took both featured performance prizes - Gary Beach
for the flamboyant director, Roger DeBris, and Cady Huffman, who
portrays the blond bombshell in the show.

Beach, who plays the Fuehrer in the "Springtime for Hitler"
number, yelled out "Heil, Mel" and threw a straight-armed salute to
the show's creator.

Daniel Sullivan took the direction-play award for "Proof" and
joked: "There must be some mistake. I had nothing to do with `The
Producers." His leading lady, Mary-Louise Parker, picked up the
best actress-play award.

The best musical revival award went to the tapping "42nd
Street," and its star, Christine Ebersole got the top female
musical prize. The play revival award went to "One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest."

Richard Easton, who plays poet A.E. Housman in "The Invention of
Love," took the top actor-play prize, while Robert Sean Leonard,
who is the younger incarnation of the same man, won in the featured
category. Viola Davis, the fiery wife in "King Hedley II," received
the featured actress award.

In giving a gaggle of prizes to "The Producers," Broadway
anointed its biggest hit in years.

The musical's success dwarfed just about everything else that
happened on Broadway during the 2000-2001 theater season. From its
$100 ticket price - announced the same day the show's rave reviews
came out - to the desperate tactics of theatergoers trying to get
into the musical to its million-dollar-plus weekly grosses, the
production commanded attention.

Its arrival heralded a rebirth of old-fashioned musical comedy,
full of gags, girls and political incorrectness, as the sun started
setting on the long-running empire of big British musicals. Two of
the biggest - "Cats" and "Miss Saigon" - ended their Broadway runs
in the season which ended May 31.

Yet there was other news, too. The resurrection of the new
American play, for example, long an endangered species on Broadway.
The last year saw the opening of David Auburn's Pulitzer
Prize-winning "Proof," "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife" and Neil
Simon's "The Dinner Party," all of them popular hits which made
money.

Financially, the Broadway season was rosy. New box office and
attendance records were set. Receipts climbed to more than $665
million, according to figures released by the League of American
Theaters and Producers, up by more than 10 percent from the
previous year. Attendance also jumped, hitting some 11.9 million
after a slight decline last season.

Network executives hoped interest in "The Producers" would
jump-start the ratings for the televised ceremony, shown on PBS for
the first hour and then CBS for the final two. Last year's CBS
ratings of the show were the lowest ever on the commercial
network.

The Tony Awards, which were founded by the American Theater Wing
in 1947, are selected by 702 members of the theatrical profession
and journalists.

Special awards this year included a regional theater prize to
Victory Gardens Theater of Chicago and a lifetime achievement award
to Paul Gemignani, veteran musical director of many Sondheim
musicals.

The 2001 Tony winners:

Play: "Proof."

Musical: "The Producers."

Book of a Musical: Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan, "The
Producers."

Original Score: Mel Brooks, "The Producers."

Revival-Play: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

Revival-Musical: "42nd Street."

Actor-Play: Richard Easton, "The Invention of Love."

Actress-Play: Mary-Louise Parker, "Proof."

Featured Actor-Play: Robert Sean Leonard, "The Invention of
Love."

Featured Actress-Play: Viola Davis, "King Hedley II."

Actor-Musical: Nathan Lane, "The Producers."

Actress-Musical: Christine Ebersole, "42nd Street."

Featured Actor-Musical: Gary Beach, "The Producers."

Featured Actress-Musical: Cady Huffman, "The Producers."

Scenic Design: Robin Wagner, "The Producers."

Costume Design: William Ivey Long, "The Producers."

Lighting Design: Peter Kaczorowski, "The Producers."

Choreography: Susan Stroman, "The Producers."

Direction of a Play: Daniel Sullivan, "Proof."

Direction of a Musical: Susan Stroman, "The Producers."

Orchestration: Doug Besterman, "The Producers."

Special Awards: Tony Award in the new category Special
Theatrical Event to the production of "Blast"; lifetime achievement
in the theater to musical director Paul Gemignani.

Tony for excellence in theater to Betty Corwin and the Theatre
on Film and Tape Archive at the New York Public Library for the
Performing Arts at Lincoln Center; to the playwright workshop New
Dramatists; and to Theatre World, the annual statistics and
photography book which has been published since 1945.